Cash taken out of company’s accounts
More than $30,000 was transferred out of a Taranaki building company’s account the day before it collapsed owing creditors $1.2 million, the liquidator says.
Gareth Hoole, of Ecovis KGA Chartered Accountants, said four transfers involving more than $30,000 were made from the Fowler Homes Taranaki account for what appeared to be personal expenses on November 8.
They included around $3000 for former owner Lauchlan MacMillan’s own salary.
‘‘It was literally the day before we were appointed,’’ Hoole said.
MacMillan has been in Whanganui Prison since he was arrested and charged following a series of coordinated raids during Labour weekend by Taranaki’s organised crime group targeting the distribution of the Class A drug methamphetamine. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Hoole believes MacMillan accessed his business account from Whanganui Prison after a court appearance via audio visual link (AVL) – a claim the prison says is impossible.
Hoole said he was shocked to find the transactions had been made from MacMillan’s business account.
‘‘That was one of my first questions. How the hell was he able to do this from behind bars? ‘‘It beggars belief.’’
The prison’s director, Reti Pearse, said MacMillan could not have accessed the money while inside.
‘‘Prisoners do not have internet access and it is not possible for prisoners to access the internet using the equipment in our AVL booths. The booth the prisoner was in contained an AVL-equipped television behind a reinforced safety screen, which prevents prisoners from having any direct contact with the equipment.’’
He said MacMillan was searched for contraband before entering the AVL facility, supervised by staff while in the booth and immediately escorted back to his unit by an officer after his appearance.
Hoole had not discounted MacMillan could have provided his log-on codes to a third party to access his account.
He was now looking at his options to recover the money, which included attempting to get it back from MacMillan.
His first report showed MacMillan’s business owed $1,210,543 to 84 creditors and had assets totalling $1,041,442, leaving its books $169,101 in the red, but that figure was expected to increase.
The report showed MacMillan’s shareholder current account was overdrawn by $483,175, but the figure was expected to increase to more than $600,000 following further investigation, and Hoole confirmed they would be seeking to recover it from him.
On October 22, police cordoned off the Fowler Homes Taranaki offices, at the intersection of State Highway 3 and Corbett Rd, Bell Block, and seized MacMillan’s luxury sports car, a black 2017 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat from an address in Fitzroy.
MacMillan, who is facing 15 methamphetamine charges and one of driving at a dangerous speed, is currently on bail at a rehabilitation centre in Whanganui and is due to reappear in the New Plymouth District Court on March 7.